NAO investigates risk of Thames Water supersewer flooding London tube

According to a news story in The Daily Telegraph the National Audit Office (NAO) is carrying out an investigation into the possibility that the much-lauded Thames Water ‘super sewer’ might cause the London Underground system to be flooded. The NAO is the government spending watchdog that ensures projects like the super sewer are good value for money.

By tompagenet (Tom Page) Wikimedia Commons

This would mean lots of small tubes being filled up by one very large tube. The PR downside being that the small tubes would be full of passengers. Some of them quite possibly Thames Water’s shareholders.

In addition to the minor safety issue of the London Underground being filled with London’s sewage one morning, it seems that the super sewer may also threaten the foundations of Big Ben.

The super sewer is the reason why our beloved King Edward Memorial Park (KEMP) is being trashed.

The NAO is also examining how the funding model behind the project was chosen and assess how the risks are being mitigated.

A key part of the funding model is that every Thames Water customer in the country, not just Londoners, pays for building the super sewer.